A House is not a Home
by McSatan
Summary: Alex wakes up in Addison's hotel room. Awkwardness ensues. Addex.
1. 1

_A House is not a Home_

Author's Note: Since all the Grey's Anatomy episodes are named after songs I thought I might name mine after one too. I started writing this during the hiatus and haven't been able to type it out. It doesn't follow the current story line. I'm hoping this will be more than one chapter and break through my unbelievably long writer's block. I've had a few other ideas but this is the only one I had time to type out. I have no beta but I hope you enjoy anyway!

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy. I can dream though.

Chapter One: Something to Talk About

Alex awoke with a killer headache. He defiantly had too much to drink last night. In fact he couldn't remember last night at all. But he didn't really care, all he wanted was go back to sleep. Alex dug deeper into the covers, but then realized that something wasn't right, this wasn't his bed. Now he was afraid to turn around, he was scared that it'd be some weird chick, or worse, a familiar face. Reluctantly, he turned around seeing the back of someone's head. With the glimpse of her hair Alex immediately knew who it was. Then, slowly, the events of last night came back to him. He remembered he was as drunk as hell and started hitting on her. She was obviously drunk as well or he wouldn't be in this terrible mess. The redhead next to him started to stir.

_Oh great, she better not wake up._

He got out of bed trying to make any sudden movements, the last thing he needs is for her to see him naked with probably no recollection of the night before. Alex scanned the room for his clothes.

_Where the hell are my boxers?_

Then it caught his eye. It was on the floor, right in front of her. Alex tiptoed towards them. He was planning on getting the hell out of there before she even woke up. He was as quiet as a mouse until the floorboard squeaked; he was only one step away from his boxers.

Her eyes fluttered open and they landed on Alex, naked Alex. Well that's an eye opener. Alex quickly put on his boxers.

Addison was so stunned that she nearly fell off the bed. The sheets were no longer covering her, revealing her upper body.

"Oh this is bad. Very bad. I've got to be dreaming…" Addison knew she wasn't. She glanced at the clock. "Shit. This never happened alright? Get dressed, we're going to be late." They had exactly twenty minutes to get to work.

Alex was ogling. She realized why. Quickly, she pulled the sheets up covering herself, slightly embarrassed. "Alex. Clothes. Stat." Alex snapped out of it and went back to looking for his clothes. Addison got out of bed, went for a bathrobe and started brushing her teeth.

"I can't find my clothes." Alex stated.

"Did you check under the bed?"

Alex dropped to the floor and checked, "Nope nothing of mine…" His eyes fixed on something. "Nice."

"What? Did you find your clothes?"

"Nope. Found something better." Alex held up a black lacy bra.

Addison glared. "Leaf my stuff awone."

Alex chuckled. "I'm sorry what was that?" Addison took the toothbrush out of her mouth and washed out her mouth. "You know you're a lot less intimidating when you can't talk properly."

Addison grinned, "Ha ha very funny." She glanced at the clock again. Fifteen minutes to get to work. "I'm taking a quick shower."

"Why don't I join you?"

Addison chuckled, "No thanks."

"So we're just going to pretend that none of _this_ ever happened?"

"Exactly. Oh and just so we're clear you are not going to talk to anyone about this. You are going to get your clothes and go to work. And you are never even going to think about this again. Got it?" Alex nodded.

"But you gotta admit. That was some pretty hot se…"

"Whoa whoa. I meant what I said Karev."

"We had sex. I don't think it can get more awkward than that. Call me Alex." Addison nodded and closed the bathroom door.

_10 Minutes to get to Work_

Addison got out of the shower expecting to have the hotel room to herself but Alex was there sitting on her bed. "Weren't you supposed to have left already?"

"You want me to go to work in my boxers? I looked all over. Your room's a mess Addison. You should get a real home."

"I don't know. I like it here and I hate apartment hunting." Addison walked to her suitcase. There were still things she hadn't unpacked since she moved out of Derek's cramped trailer. "I accidentally packed up Derek's plaid pajamas when I left. Since we can't find your clothes, you can wear this can't you?"

"Derek's pajamas? Your ex-husbands? I don't think I feel very comfortable wearing his clothes."

"Well it's either his clothes or women's clothes." Addison smirked.

"Yeah. I'll take Derek's PJs."

"Excellent choice." Addison tossed them to him. "Try to avoid Derek today. He loves those and will probably recognize them."

"Sure." Alex paused. "I hate to be the bringer of bad news but I don't have my car and I'm not sure you do either."

"We took a cab didn't we?"

"Joe probably didn't want us to smash our skulls through the windshield. So yeah I think we took a cab."

"Damn. This sucks."

"Big time. I'll call a cab to take us to work."

"Alright." Addison went to change and started reflecting on what happened. She really screwed up this time. It hadn't been two weeks since the divorce and she already got drunk and slept with another guy. A co-worker. She slept with a co-worker, an intern. And news like that, well gossip like that always managed to get out. It happened with Burke and Yang, it happened with Derek and Meredith, and she's praying that it doesn't happen to her.

She didn't like the idea of being involved with an intern. It was against the rules, not like any of the other attendings paid attention to it. She just didn't want her reputation to be tainted. Furthermore if this thing did get out it would be made out to look like revenge against Derek.

- - -

Addison and Alex sat in an awkward silence throughout their cab ride. There wasn't much to talk about.

"Shoot." Alex mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't have my wallet."

"Don't worry Karev I got the cab fare." Alex nodded.

The two of them walked into Seattle Grace Hospital together hoping that nobody would notice they were both late.

The entered the elevator when Alex blurted, "The guys are supposed to pay for the cab."

"It's fine really. I don't mind." Addison replied. "If it bothers you so much you can buy me a coffee sometime... or something"

"Yeah. Maybe I will."

A few floors above them the rest of the interns were already more than half way through rounds. The elevator dinged alerting them that their stop had arrived. Alex sprinted down the hall to the locker room not being very sneaky. Derek noticed him but more importantly he noticed what he was wearing.

"Hey! Those are my…" Alex didn't hear him; all he could hear was Bailey's ticked off voice in his head when he turned up late for rounds. Derek decided not to go after him. He would confront him later.

Addison came down the same hallway seconds later. Derek didn't know how he quite felt at that moment. Jealous? Contemptuous? Amused? Or perhaps he was numb. Derek approached Addison, who was looking at some charts.

"Hello Addison." Addison looked up kind of surprised.

"Derek." Addison acknowledged.

"So the other day I was looking for my favorite pair of pajamas. Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Which ones are you talking about?" Addison couldn't believe she was having this conversation. The conversation was casual, like they were still married.

"You know the plaid ones. The ones you love to wear."

"Oh yeah, those."

"I remember you used to wear them when you were upset."

Addison's expression grew sad. "Yeah whenever you would have late nights at the hospital I'd wear them. They made me feel close to you." She was surprised at the words that just came out of her mouth but was even more shocked at what Derek said next.

"And whenever we had a fight you wouldn't wear them because the thought of me repulsed you." Derek laughed bitterly.

_Why couldn't he have been this honest in counseling? _Addison thought. "You never repulsed me." Addison said with certain sadness that could break your heart. Addison quickly recovered. "But no Derek I don't know where those could have gone. I could check my place. I could have taken it by accident. If I find it I'll give it back to you."

"No that's okay. If you find it, keep it." Derek walked away trying not to look back.

Alex caught up with the rest of the interns. They had already finished their rounds. "Karev how nice of you to grace us with your presence." Sarcasm oozed from Bailey's voice.

"I'm sorry."

"You can be sorry in the pit." Bailey retorted.

"Great. Thanks." Alex muttered. This was going to be a long day.

To be continued…

- - -

Author's Note: Okay so this story will defiantly the Addison/Alex pairing. I thought I might give them a shot at happiness. There will be bumps along the way, and probably a few more references at addek (I hate that I'm an addek fan but I really can't help it). Anywho reviews would be lovely.


	2. 2

_A House is not a Home_

A/N: Wow thanks for the reviews. I've never gotten so many for just one chapter. I even snagged a beta! Thank you Idle Hands for the tremendous help.

Sorry it took so long to update. New semester just began and I got tons of work.

Chapter 2

Derek wandered around trying to organize his thoughts. He had a surgery coming up in half an hour and he wouldn't be able to operate if he couldn't clear his head. One thing he knew for sure. He still cared about Addison, he wasn't still in love with her but he still cared. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't see Meredith coming his way and smacked right into her.

"Whoa, Derek watch where you're going." Meredith looked up, "Hey, are you okay? You look drained."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't had any coffee yet."

"Oh, alright." Meredith said not entirely convinced, "Are you sure nothing's bothering you?"

Derek gave a weak smile, "No of course not. I'm going to get a cup of coffee. You want anything?"

Meredith shook her head, "No thanks. I'm scrubbing in on your surgery right?" Derek nodded. "Okay see you later."

- - -

"Miranda do you have a free intern? I have a few surgeries today and I need an extra hand."

"I'm sure you can get Dr. Karev. He's covering the pit. I'm sure he wouldn't mind scrubbing in."

Addison really hated alcohol right now. It made her do stupid things. She didn't want to avoid Alex. To be honest she liked him. He was a good guy. Most of the time he was actually kind of fun to be around. But after last night… to say that things would be awkward would be the understatement of the century.

Addison's plan for the next few weeks had been to avoid Alex like the plague but Bailey had inadvertently made that a lot harder.

"Thanks Miranda. I'll look for him there." She briefly considered working without an intern. Granted it would keep her at the hospital all night, but it had the advantage of allowing her to avoid Karev. Or she could just act like a professional and work with Alex, thus lessening her workload and saving him from a boring day in the pit.

After all, Alex was a talented surgeon and he was being wasted suturing people up. Addison watched as Alex carefully stitched up a guy's face.

- - -

"There's doctor staring at you." The guy Alex was working on stated. "She's hot."

"Try not to move," Alex continued to suture. "Is she a red head?"

"A very hot red head."

Alex chuckled as he finished up the last stitch. "I'm done here. You just have to sign some papers and you'll be out of here."

"Thanks man. And good luck with the hottie." Alex looked for Addison. Their eyes met for a brief second before Addison quickly looked down at some charts. Alex approached Addison and leaned forward leaving barely three inches between them.

"Looking for me?" He whispered into ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

Addison turned around and met him face to face. "Dr. Karev. I need you to scrub in on surgery I have in an hour," she breathed.

Alex took a few steps back. "Sure Dr. Montgomery."

"Oh and before I forget I need you to get some labs on my patient Dinah Lord. I'm going to go prep her for surgery." Addison said as calmly as she could while pretending that the moment they had just shared hadn't happen.

- - -

Usually after a successful surgery Derek would feel great. Today, however, was different. His thoughts kept drifting back to Addison and Alex. There was no doubt something happened between them. He had to do something or he'd go crazy. He needed to vent.

Alex was at the nurse's station getting some papers when Derek spotted him. "Dr. Karev. I need to speak with you. In private." Alex said nothing as he followed the older doctor into the locker room.

"Stay away from her." Derek said bluntly.

"Who? Addison? I can't do that Dr. Shepherd. I'm scrubbing in on one of her surgeries today."

"You know what I mean. She's sad and vulnerable. Don't you dare take advantage of her."

Alex snorted. "How would you know how she feels? Addison's a grown woman and I'm pretty sure she doesn't need her ex-husband looking after her when he has a girlfriend he should be paying attention to. Plus what makes you think there's something going on between us?"

"Trust me I know. Addison's a great person and you… you're like a mini version of Mark. She doesn't need another guy like him."

"I'm nothing like Sloan. You don't know me and you have no right to say who's allowed to be with Addison. You're not her husband, not anymore."

"That may be true but no document can get rid of the fact that I still care about her."

"Oh really? It didn't seem like you were too considerate of her feelings when you had sex with another woman on prom night, with Addison in the same building."

Anger pulsed through Derek's veins. He clenched his fist and threw a punch right into the side of Alex's face.

"You had that coming for a long time Karev," he snarled.

Alex knew what trouble he was going to be in when he did what he was about to do, but Derek had it coming too.

Alex quickly recovered, "Is that all you've got? That was a really sissy punch," he taunted. Alex didn't know why he was doing this. Maybe he wanted Derek to get what he deserved. He'd hurt Addison, and it was pretty easy to see that she was still hurting.

That got Derek fuming and he threw another punch. Exactly what Alex wanted, and excuse for hitting back, or 'defending'. Alex dodged the punch which resulted in Derek hitting the locker. Then Alex laid out one of his own punches straight into Derek's stomach.

- - -

Bailey was going to kill Alex. First he was late for rounds, and then he was supposed to be getting labs for Addison but hadn't shown his face in nearly half an hour. That kid was going to get it. As she was tearing up the hospital looking for him Bailey heard a banging coming from the locker room. She rushed inside and no surprise, Alex was there along with Dr. Shepherd. They were on the ground, wrestling.

"Oh my god." Bailey rushed to the two of them. "Alright that's enough!" They continued to go at it though so Bailey grabbed Alex's arm and tore the two doctors apart. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

By this time, all the noise and shouting attracted some nurses, among them the head nurse, Debbie. This incident would definitely go on her blog, a place that no doctor wanted to find him or herself mentioned. The next thing Derek and Alex knew, they were in the Chief's office meekly staring at the floor while Dr. Webber paced and shot them angry looks.

"I'm trying to be as calm as possible but would one of you be so kind as to tell me what the hell happened? If Dr. Bailey hadn't interrupted, the both of you might have had major injuries. I won't stand for fighting in this hospital, especially between two doctors." There was silence. "I'm waiting."

"It was nothing Richard." Derek spoke up.

"Nothing? Is that nothing on your face? Nothing on Karev's face?" The Chief glared furiously at the blood and cuts on the two doctors' hands and faces.

"It was just a little skirmish."

"I can see for myself that it was a 'little skirmish,'" The Chief emphasized. "What I want to know is why it happened."

"It started as a small argument. I don't even remember how it got to what it did." Alex said.

"Alright. I'll going to be frank and ask who started it."

"I threw the first punch." Derek admitted. "And started the argument."

"I'm surprised... well actually no I'm really not." Richard thought back to the Mark talking to Meredith incident. "Last time I let you off easy but you can't go around punching co-workers. These kinds of things can't be taken lightly so you are to work under Dr. Bailey for three weeks."

"Three weeks?!"

"Yes. You need to learn how you have learned how to control that fist of yours and to talk out your problems instead of acting on impulses. You are both excused." They started out the door. "And get yourselves cleaned up!"

- - -

Izzie and Cristina watched the Chief yell at Alex and Derek. Debbie had gotten the word around fast and it was times like these that they really appreciated all the large glass walls and windows that made up the inside of the hospital. Nearly half the hospital now knew of the scuffle between Alex and Derek, but only Izzie and Cristina had a front row seat.

"McDreamy looks pissed." Cristina commented.

"Alex doesn't." Izzie added.

Addison too was a spectator, silently watching the conversation the three surgeons were having. Once Derek and Alex left Richard's office Addison walked up to them.

"What happened? Are you both alright?"

"Yeah. Fine." Derek replied coldly before turning and walking away.

Addison sighed and turned to Alex, "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Addison and Alex left, leaving Izzie and Cristina staring curiously at their retreating backs.

"What that was all about?" Cristina wondered aloud.

- - -

"Ow." Alex winced as the cold cloth touched his cut.

"Oh don't be such a baby." Addison snickered. "If you don't want a scar you're going to need stitches."

"Do you think a scar would make me seem tougher?"

Addison shook her head, "You don't want a scar."

"I don't?"

"Nope. Scars are ugly. You've got a nice face..." Addison hesitated, "Trust me. You don't want a scar. Let me stitch you up."

"Alright. But only because you think I'm so attractive."

Addison laughed out loud, "You're so... so." she couldn't think of the right word.

"Sexy?"

Addison shook her head and smiled sweetly, "I have a needle in my hand. It's not much but it can do a lot of damage to that pretty little face of yours." That shut Alex up pretty fast. But he still sported a smirk for the rest of the day.

- - -


	3. 3

Chapter 3

It was a morning like any other at Seattle Grace. The board was crammed full of scheduled surgeries, the locker room clamored with recent gossip, and the nurses spread more news about the recent goings-on. By now every intern knew that McDreamy would be working like one of them under the supervision of the Nazi. Most the female interns swooned at the idea of working with Dr. McDreamy, and secretly wished their resident was Bailey.

Alex strolled in the locker room and spotted his clothes on the bench where all of Dr. Bailey's interns were.

"You got a present Alex," Meredith said referring to the clothes. "There's a note but whoever wrote it didn't sign their name." Of course by now everyone had read it. There was no such thing as privacy at this hospital.

Alex opened the now slightly crumpled piece of paper. It read, "_You wouldn't believe where I found these."_ Silently Alex pondered where his elusive clothes could have been, but gave up almost immediately, deciding that he didn't want to know.

"Nice job kicking the crap out of McDreamy," Cristina said in an amused tone, pulling him away from thoughts of Addison's hotel room and the things they had done there.

"He did not beat Derek up," Meredith argued.

"That's not what I heard. Bailey saw it. Karev had McDreamy pinned."

Alex ignored the two bickering friends. The last thing he wanted to think about was Derek when his mind kept wandering back to very pleasant memories involving a certain redhead.

"He's a wrestler, of course he'd pin Derek."

"And you're taking Evil Spawn's side why?" Meredith questioned.

"… I don't know," Cristina quickly changed the subject, "So, Evil Spawn. Who's the girl?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, Yang," Alex fished through the pants that Addison found and took out his wallet.

"It's going to get out sooner or later. You might as well tell us now." Meredith joined in on the interrogation.

"Very persuasive but uh, no."

"It's probably some nurse anyway," Cristina muttered.

Before Alex could say anything Bailey marched it. "Time for round people. Get moving!"

The group of interns was making their way down the hall when they saw Dr. Shepherd. He seemed to be arguing with someone they'd never seen before.

"Dr. Shepherd! Aren't you with me for the next few weeks?" Bailey asked in an annoyed tone. "Leave the poor substitute alone."

Derek grumbled profanities under his breath. He hadn't thought that the Chief would go as far as to get another surgeon to do his job while he was working for Bailey. "Dr. Shepherd. We're doing rounds." Bailey continued down the hall to the first patient's room. Derek unenthusiastically followed them.

The first half of rounds went well; Derek even presented one case without too much resentment. Meredith was assigned to Callie for the day and George to the substitute. The remainder of the group made their way to the gynecology area of the hospital.

"Okay who's presenting?" Addison asked.

Alex answered, "I am." He glanced down at some charts and started to recite, "Audrey Lane, admitted this morning for excess amount of vomiting." Alex locked eyes with Addison.

"And how do we know it's not just normal morning sickness?"

Most of the doctors in the room noticed that the two of them were gazing at each other intently, paying minimal attention to the patient and the other doctors in the room. Derek noticed this first and could see the electricity between them.

"She's lost almost five percent of her body weight, and should be monitored in case of dehydration due to the vomiting." Alex stated

"Good." Addison flashed a smile then faced the patient. "So Miss Lane it looks like you'll be staying here for a few days."

As the group started to exit the room Addison quietly whispered, "Uh Karev, could I have a word with you?" Alex fell back to stand next to Addison and together they watched Bailey and the other interns until the group was far enough to not overhear their conversation. "I have this great surgery later on today. If you can drag yourself away from Mark today I could let you scrub in" Addison offered.

Alex smiled. "It'll be hard getting away from Sloan but I'm sure I can find a way." He winked at her and left the room, catching up with the others just as Bailey began to give out the remaining assignments.

"Yang, Stevens, pit. Karev, Sloan. Derek…"

Alex cut her off, "Actually I was wondering if I could work with Dr. Montgomery today."

Bailey sighed, "You want to go into plastics. You'll learn a hell of a lot more about it from Sloan than you will from Dr. Montgomery." She knew that Mark wasn't letting Alex do anything but get him coffee but sooner or later he'd have to let Alex in on a surgery. "Derek you're with Addison today." Derek frowned in disapproval but dutifully met up with Addison in front of her patient's room.

"What do you want?" Addison snapped seeing him waiting for her.

"Whoa I'm sensing a little bit of hostility here."

"I thought we were going to be friends, Derek. You wanted to be friends. I try to talk to you but you just keep pushing me away. Friends don't do that."

Derek looked down. He had been ignoring her a bit but only to avoid a conversation he didn't want to have, "I'm assigned to you today." He said answering Addison's question.

"Ahh, well that explains why you're talking to me." Addison informed Derek of her schedule for the day, "I have a c-section in a few minutes. You'll scrub in for that and afterwards I have three other patients that need to be checked on, so make sure to see them immediately after the c-sec. I also need their charts updated and I've got another surgery in the afternoon." Addison knew that she was giving Derek a lot of work but technically he was an intern and with the title came the heavy work load.

Derek groaned, "You're torturing me for ignoring you right?"

"Don't you remember your intern years?" she asked.

"Yeah and I especially remember how much I hated them." Derek grouched.

Addison just smiled and walked away.

- - -

It was lunch and Addison had just sat down at an empty table with a tray of very questionable-looking meat and other assorted foodstuffs. Staring unhappily at the unappetizing mess on her plate, she started picking at the food with her spork only to recoil in shock and disgust when a gooey liquid oozed out of a hole in the crust of the imitation meat. What the hell were they serving in this hospital? Deciding that she didn't want to eat something she couldn't even identify, Addison pushed the tray away and opened a book. Before she could get started reading, however, Alex plopped his tray on the table and took a seat next to her.

"Do you know what this … thing is?" Alex asked referring to the foreign looking objects on his tray.

Addison closed her book, "I'd rather not know."

Alex stabbed his spork into the meat, "Well it can't hurt to try." He took a small bite and immediately started gagging. Addison giggled at the disgusted look on Alex's face. He crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry but your expression when you put that thing in your mouth…" she burst out laughing again.

Alex glared, "I'm going to get a sandwich or something… Want anything?"

"Actually a salad sounds good." Alex nodded and headed off to the cafeteria. Addison followed him with her eyes until she saw Callie staring at her with a smug grin on her face. Addison sighed as Callie made her way over to the table.

"So you and Karev huh? I knew it would happen sooner or later."

"No, there's no Karev and I," Addison denied. "There's Karev, and then there's me."

"Oh there's something going on between you two. I know it," Callie decided to pursue another subject. "So how's your day with McDreamy going?"

Addison gave her an incredulous look, "I can't believe you just called my ex, McDreamy. You've been hanging out with the interns way too much. He thinks I've been torturing him. He even gave me a new name - McSatan."

Callie snorted, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Addison laughed.

The two girls became silent as Alex came back with the food. Callie could practically see the tension her presence was causing. "Um I have this really important thing that I just remembered I have to do so I'm going to go do it" she mumbled, standing up. "See ya later."

With Callie's departure, the mood at the table lightened considerably.

Taking a bite of his sandwich, Alex asked, "So, do you still need an intern for that surgery?"

"Did you get away from Mark?" Alex nodded, "I'm in OR two in an hour."

A few tables away Meredith, Izzie, Cristina, and George avidly watched the exchange.

"What… is he doing?"

"He brought her food."

"They're laughing." The interns were in awe. They remembered how not too long ago Alex would rant and complain about Addison and the gynie squad.

"Alex sucking up to Addison is making me sick. I'm leaving." Cristina finally stated.

"Yeah, me too." Meredith got up. Izzie shrugged and started to walk away too, leaving just George.

"Hey guys wait up!" George shouted, heading off to catch up with them.

- - -

Addison strode down the hall in the direction of OR two. Derek caught up and started walking alongside her.

After a minute or so Addison spoke. "You're following me."

"Yes."

"Don't follow me. It's kind of creepy."

"You have a surgery. I want to scrub in." he declared.

Addison started to feel a little guilty, "Oh… are you sure? I mean I didn't think you were interested in my field and so… and… well"

"You're rambling."

"I, um, don't need anymore help on this one. Another intern is already scrubbing in."

"Oh," Derek actually sounded disappointed.

"Yeah, but at least you get a break from running around, you deserve it." Addison offered.

Derek mumbled something she couldn't make out and turned the other way. Addison sighed. Being with Derek all day was exhausting.

- - -

It seemed like Addison had held her breath throughout the whole surgery. It was a delicate procedure and one minor mistake could have resulted in a complete disaster. There were a few moments of uncertainty but the patient made it through and the surgery was a success.

Addison let out a big sigh of relief and smiled happily as she walked to the large stainless sink in the scrub room. Everything was so much sweeter after a good surgery.

Alex, too, was ecstatic, "Man, that was amazing!" he exclaimed. "The best surgery I've ever scrubbed in on. You were great!"

"You were pretty good yourself," Addison complimented.

"We should go to Joe's tonight."

"What? Why?"

"This was a tough surgery. We should celebrate not screwing up."

Addison contemplated it, "I don't know Karev…"

"Come on. You know you want to, and plus I still owe you."

Addison hesitated, "Okay."

"Okay?" Alex was surprised. He'd been sure that she was going to turn him down. "Okay," He said with more confidence.

Addison wondered if she was making the right decision but decided not to dwell on it. After all, she deserved to have a little fun.

- - -


	4. 4

Chapter Four-

The Emerald City Bar was particularly busy this evening but then again Friday's were usually very eventful. This Friday, however, Joe hadn't seen a glimpse of any of his favorite doctors and nurses. His bar was filled with drunks, most of whom had been there since six P.M., and new faces that he was sure he'd see again.

Despite all the people, the absence of Seattle Grace's finest made for a pretty boring night. Joe had spent the last few days eagerly anticipating the juicy gossip and excitement that the doctors always generated, but instead he was stuck with the much less welcome excitement of bar fights. He had already broken up two in the past few hours. Looking around at the full, but relatively peaceful bar, Joe decided that he really wanted the dirt on what was going on in Seattle Grace. The last thing he heard was that there had been a fight between Derek and Alex. Debbie hadn't updated her blog since then.

Some kind of great deity must have heard what he was thinking because no sooner had he finished the thought than an intern walked into the bar, and one of his favorites too. It was Alex. He looked around for a table but they were all taken so he took a seat at the counter. "Hey Joe. Can I get a beer?"

Joe handed him a mug of beer, "I haven't seen you around lately."

"Yeah, I haven't had a lot of free time." Alex replied automatically while glancing at the door.

"Got a date tonight?"

"Yes. I mean no. It's just two friends hanging out. How did you know?" Alex jumbled.

Joe laughed, "You must really have a thing for this girl."

"No. We're just friends, no not even friends, co-workers to be exact." Alex interjected defensively.

"Uh-huh. So you and this mystery woman, who hasn't shown up yet, are not friends but are hanging out. It makes perfect sense."

"She'll come." Alex said with great confidence. As if right on cue Addison entered the bar. Joe looked at Addison then back at Alex. He saw the smile that spread across Alex's lips.

"Addison? Seriously? I thought you hated that woman." Joe whispered somewhat loudly.

Alex shot Joe a deadly glare. Joe's mouth immediately clamped shut. Alex greeted a slightly distracted Addison, "Hey."

"Hey." She sat down next to Alex. "A martini please, Joe."

"How was your day?" Alex asked sensing something was bothering her.

Addison bit her lip. She desperately wanted to say, "It was terrible!" but airing her dirty laundry to an intern in a crowded bar was something that Addison Forbes Montgomery simply wasn't prepared to do, no matter how much she wished she could. Plastering a fake smile on her face, Addison said, "It was like any normal day."

She was lying through her teeth and he knew it. She seemed like she wanted to tell him but instead she shut him out. He wanted to go into it further but decided otherwise. He knew that in time she would open up to him.

Sitting at the open counter where everyone could see them, Addison felt somewhat uncomfortable. Letting her eyes roam the bar, she spotted a pool table. "You want to play some pool?" she asked Alex.

"You play pool?"

"Sometimes. Not scared are you?"

Alex snorted, "Yeah. I'm shaking." They headed to the pool table.

- - -

Joe watched the two doctors interact from his spot behind the counter. They seemed to be having a good time. He could see Addison laughing and Alex looking at the pool table obviously stumped. He approached the cue ball at multiple angles but he had no way of sinking any of the solid balls. He ended up just hitting the ball aimlessly, letting it sail across the table to land in a random spot.

Sometime during their game Addison had switched from dry martinis to shots and seeing that she was out, Alex went to get another round of drinks.

"She's kicking your ass." Joe commented.

"I know it but I can't believe it. Who'd have guessed?" There was no chance of Alex winning their game. She only had to sink the eight ball while he had two more left.

As Alex was getting the drinks, two drunks, both really young, accosted Addison. "Heyyy baby. Why don't you come sit with us?" Their eyes roamed sleazily over Addison's body. "Ditch that loser."

Addison sighed. She was wearing four inch stilettos and she really didn't want to use them but by the looks of things she was going to have to. Alex took notice of the scene immediately, however, and hurried over to Addison's side wrapping his arm protectively around her waist. "Back off." He growled at the two other men.

"Hhhey. We're all friends hereee," one of the men slurred.

"Yeah. We just want to have some fun."

"Leave us alone." Alex had his other fist clenched to the point where his knuckles were white.

"What are you going to do about it tough guy?"

Alex let go of Addison. She knew what was coming next so she quickly got a hold of Alex's arm, "Walk away." She whispered. Alex just looked at her; she knew this wasn't an easy thing for him to do. "Please. It would ruin this night." He relaxed his muscles and took a deep breath and released, letting his anger out. Then they turned around and walked to the counter, hand in hand, ignoring the taunts from the two guys.

Joe was relieved to see Alex walk away from that potential disaster, "I thought I was going to have to break up another fight. It would have been my third one tonight. Thank Addison. I owe you."

"No problem, just trying to keep Karev from getting into another fight," Addison teased. "Would have been his second one this week." Suddenly, Addison realized that she was still holding Alex's hand. She let go and nervously cleared her throat.

- - -

As the night went on Addison got more and more distant. Her mind kept wandering back to the events leading up to her date or whatever this was with Alex. Toward the end of the evening, Alex felt like he was talking to an empty shell.

"Addison." Alex spoke softly, wondering if she was paying any attention to him.

"Hmm?" she replied absentmindedly.

"Tell me what's wrong," Alex asked with genuine concern.

"Nothing. I'm having a good time."

"When you first got here and I asked you about your day you lied. Something's bothering you." He said gently.

Alex's comment threw her off. _Am I that transparent?_ Addison usually hated confiding in people but looking into Alex's eyes it was hard not to. He was waiting for an answer. Addison sighed, "I don't even know where to begin."

"At the beginning."

Addison thought for a moment, searching for the right words, "The beginning: my marriage. We were happy. I know it's hard to imagine but we were. Years went by and he hardly acknowledged me anymore, like I didn't even exist. Then Mark, he was there when Derek wasn't." she paused silently debating whether she should be telling this story. After all he's probably heard it already, but she continued anyway. "And then prom and the divorce and I just never expected to end up alone. Then today, Derek h-he" Her voice cracked.

Alex saw the tears that were threatening to pour out of her eyes. He felt the need to hold her, to protect her and make sure nobody would hurt her like Derek had. Without thinking he reached over and placed his lips over hers.

At first she froze but then almost as quickly she gave in, melting under his touch. The kiss deepened and she started to kiss back. Alex could taste the tears that were now flowing freely. She broke away abruptly.

"I'm sorry. I… I can't," Addison wiped her tears away furiously. "I gotta go," She got up from her stool suddenly feeling the affects of the large amount of alcohol she'd consumed. She started to lose her balance but Alex caught her. Taking a moment to steady herself against the counter, Addison turned and quickly walked out the door, leaving a stunned Alex staring after her.

- - -

Alex ran out after Addison, "Hey wait."

Addison sighed. She had really hoped he wouldn't come after her, "What?"

"Are you driving?"

"My hotel isn't that far away."

"You'll get hurt. I'll drive you."

"You've had a few drinks too." She argued.

"One beer. If you don't trust me I'll get you a cab." Addison shook her head. "Let me just take you home."

"I don't have a home," She retorted bitterly. "I have an empty hotel room, and suddenly I really don't want to go back to it right now." She started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked not giving up.

"To the hospital, I just want to get some sleep. You should go home. At least you have one."

He let her go, watching her cross the empty street and proceed down the empty street until she finally moved out of sight.

- - -


	5. 5

Chapter 5-

It had been a few days since the incident at Joe's and Addison had been going out of her way to avoid Alex. She took the stairs instead of the elevator, used the hallways she knew Alex wouldn't be in.

Unfortunately Derek was still around, having been assigned to her for a whole week. He had tried talking to her about their most recent quarrel but she'd refused to allow it, telling him to just do his job and keep their interactions strictly professional.

These past few weeks had been really confusing for Alex. How could two people sleep together and have everything be cool but then mess it all up over one kiss? It didn't seem logical to him.

Finally, Alex decided he couldn't take it anymore. Addison had been avoiding him since their aborted date at Joe's and Alex found that not being able to see and talk to her was suddenly making Seattle Grace an unbearably dreary place. He asked around the hospital and by the middle of the afternoon found Addison at the nurse's station picking up some charts.

Not wanting her to spot him and run, Alex quietly moved to her side, "Dr. Montgomery, can I talk to you?"

"I'm busy. I have a consult in ten minutes. Can it wait?" she started to walk away.

"I won't take five minutes," he quickly got a hold of her and dragged her into the nearest closet.

"Alex, what do you want?"

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me."

"I haven't been avoiding you," Addison hedged.

"Then why don't I see you in the halls anymore, why do you make up excuses so that you won't have to talk to me?"

"I'm not making up excuses; I really have a consult in…" Addison glanced at her watch, "7 minutes." Alex gave her a skeptical look. "Okay fine. I have been avoiding you but I'm not lying about the consult."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I don't know!" Addison exasperated.

"Was it the kiss?"

"Yes…No." Addison wanted to blame it on the kiss but it didn't seem fair when the real reason was her feelings towards him. "I just don't want to start anything. I can't do it now. I need time." Though she and Derek had spent most of the last 6 months apart, Addison still ached over her broken marriage. Ever since the divorce, life seemed to be passing her by. Sometimes if felt like time continued to rush forward while she was stuck in slow motion.

"We don't have to start anything, Addison" Alex assured her. "Let's just be friends."

Addison showed no reaction.

"We can be friends right?" Alex repeated earnestly.

"Friends. Yeah we can be friends," she nodded finally. There were a few moments of silence, "Uh. My consult."

"Oh right." Alex opened the door and they stepped out.

_This friends thing can work._ Addison thought. _It has to._

- - -

As the weeks rolled by Alex and Addison really got comfortable with each other. Over time, they even started to talk like actual friends and not just two people who work together. There were still those moments of attraction, pockets of time where they ended up really close to each other, too close to be considered just friends, but they did their best to ignore those. After all, neither wanted to damage the fragile relationship they had just started to create.

As their friendship deepened, Addison and Alex made an effort to spend time together every few days, but the past two week had been unusually hectic. Sloan came up with more stupid demands every day and Addison had quite a few consults as well as an unnatural amount of surgeries. It got to the point where Addison and Alex barely even passed each other in the hallways, much less talked. Finally, when their busy schedules died down Alex proposed they meet up at Joe's and catch up.

At first, Addison was tempted to refuse, after all look what happened last time, but to be honest, she missed Alex and if going to Joe's meant she would see him then go she would. This bravado lasted right up until Addison reached the entrance. Going into Joe's reminded her of how sweet Alex had been the night of their date and it made her want to rethink the whole just friends deal. Plus, she had a feeling that something was going to happen.

Alex was sitting at the counter sipping a beer when Addison entered. He nearly choked on his drink when she came in wearing a snug fitting red tank top and tight jeans. It was a simple outfit but she looked amazing.

"Hey," Addison sat down next to him.

"Hey," Alex returned trying not to notice how incredible she looked and failing miserably.

Addison was getting uncomfortable under his fixed stare, "Do I have something on my face?"

"What? No, no you do don't," Alex replied a bit startled.

"I'm going to go to the lady's room and powder my nose… or something. I'll be right back." Addison didn't know what she was doing here; it was obviously a bad idea. She should never have agreed to this. The whole evening would end up being a repeat of last time and the last thing Addison wanted was a return to the unhappy awkwardness of several weeks ago.

_No it's not going to be hard because we're just friends, just friend hanging out. … But why does it feel like more? _

She quickly fixed her hair, applied some lip gloss and went to join Alex. When she exited the restroom Addison noticed a blonde chick had taken her seat next to him. She was dressed in an extremely short miniskirt and a low-cut shirt that was more than a little revealing. They were talking but Alex didn't seem so pleased. The girl placed her hand on Alex's leg but he quickly brushed it off.

Addison absorbed the scene in front of her trying valiantly to tamp down the anger and jealousy rising up to battle her earlier determination to be "just friends". Watching the blond fall all over Alex, Addison wanted nothing better than to slap the girl silly even as her common sense pointed out that she had absolutely no right to be jealous. Suddenly Addison threw common sense out the window. She went up to Alex and kissed him for all she was worth. The girl immediately backed off and went to look for another guy.

After several long moments, Addison remembered that she should pull away. Breaking the kiss, she took a deep breath and tried to look anywhere but at Alex. "Sorry," she whispered.

It took a moment for Alex to comprehend what just happened. The kiss had felt so right that Addison ending it made him feel bereft.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. The friends thing was going really well and I screwed it up, just pretend this never happened-"

"Addison. Take a chance."

"What?"

"We have something," Alex insisted. "I don't know what it is but we have something. You feel it too. I know you do!"

"Alex, I-"

"I'm not the commitment type of guy but I really think this could work. I know that what we have is special. Please Addison. Give us a chance."

Addison sighed. Of course she felt their connection and though she wished she could say otherwise there was no denying the fact that Addison had never felt this way before. With Derek it had been completely different. They'd always been Derek and Addison, the perfect couple, a seamless unit. What she felt for Alex was something entirely new and more than anything, Addison wanted to see where it could lead. The rational part of her mind warned that letting Alex get close would lead to another broken heart, but as much as Addison didn't want to end up broken again, she was even more sick of being scared. She and Alex didn't have to end the way her marriage to Derek had and if there was even the slightest chance of a happily ever after, Addison wanted to explore that possibility to the fullest.

"I want to find out too."

- - -

That same evening Alex had somehow wound up in front of Addison's hotel room. That's not a good thing when two people are trying to pursue a healthy relationship.

"Do you want to come in?" Addison asked hoping he would decline; knowing what could happen if he accepted.

"As much as I would like to, I don't think I should." Addison was relieved.

"Yeah. I think you're right. So I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Good night," Alex said placing a soft kiss on Addison's lips.

- - -


	6. 6

**Chapter 6**-

A small ray of sunlight peeked through the shades of Addison's hotel room. Then the blare of the alarm broke the peaceful silence that hovered over the room. Addison groaned. She hated that beeping sound more than any other sound in the world. She shifted to the side and slammed the snooze button. Alex got up slowly but Addison dug deeper into the covers. Usually, she got up right after her alarm sounded but today she felt especially exhausted so she decided that she'd hit the snooze button a few more times before forcing herself out of bed.

Addison was still sleeping when Alex had finished getting ready. He sighed, "Addie. Get up. We're going to be late."

"Mmmm," she moaned. "Five minutes." Alex pulled the covers off. Addison didn't try to pull them back up; she was not in the mood to play tug-of-war. Determined to get her out of bed before they were both late, Alex got on the bed and started to tickle her. Addison squirmed under his touch and started giggling. "Okay okay! I'm up!" she gasped.

Alex grinned; Addison hated and loved that cocky smile. She threw a pillow at his head, smiling playfully. Smiling back at her, Alex threw the pillow back. "Hey!"

The alarm started to blare again. If it weren't for the clock reminding them of the time feathers would be flying all over the place. "Shoot! We're going to be late!" Addison exclaimed.

Twenty five minutes later Addison was all ready for work. "Why does it take so long for women to get ready?" Alex groused.

"I didn't take that long," she replied. "Well, let's go. I'm driving."

- - -

"So have you thought about getting a house or an apartment?" Alex asked while Addison drove. This was the second time Alex had brought it up.

"Nope."

"If you got a house or an apartment you could save a lot of money," Alex reasoned.

"Uh-huh. I like having room service though. I don't have to do any cooking."

"I could cook for you."

Addison was surprised, "You can cook?"

"Sure," Alex replied not too confident in himself.

"Prove it."

"If I can come up with an amazing meal will you consider getting your own place?"

"Sure," Addison agreed. "How about you cook tonight?"

"Uh. Alright tonight's fine. Be at my place at 8."

- - -

For weeks they had been able to keep their relationship under wraps. It was a great feeling not being the main sources that fed the rumor mill. They'd never really talked about not telling anyone; somehow it just became an unspoken agreement. Both of them knew nothing good could come of the whole hospital talking about them. Their secret was staying a secret for a good while, but both knew that it was only a matter of time before somebody found out. And when that happened, the whole hospital would know within hours. Unfortunately, that day didn't seem nearly far enough away.

Bailey walked into the locker room and started giving out assignments, "Grey you're with Torres; Yang, Burke; Stevens, Montgomery; O'Malley you're with me, and Karev scut."

"What about Sloan or Dr. Montgomery?"

"You're doing scut today."

"Why?" Alex groaned.

Bailey gave Alex an expressive glance, "Because I said so."

"What did you do to piss her off?" Izzie whispered as they left the locker room behind Bailey and the rest of the interns.

"No idea," Alex stopped for a moment. "Hey listen," he said in a low voice. "We're still friends right?" Izzie nodded. "Okay well I kind of need a big favor and I think you can help."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Well there's this girl. I really like her and I promised her a great dinner."

"And you want me to cook it. Alright, where and when?"

"She's coming at eight so could you be at my apartment at seven?"

"Okay. I don't know where you live though but you can give me the directions later," Izzie paused, "So. Who's the girl?" Alex didn't answer so she tried a different approach. "Is she someone in the hospital?"

"Yeah. You know her."

"Really?" Izzie was engrossed. "What does she look like?"

"Red hair." Izzie grimaced.

"Alex I swear to God if you're making me cook for Olivia I'll-" She threatened.

"No. No Izzie, it's not Olivia."

It took a few seconds for it to hit her, then her eyes widened in shock, "Oh my God. It's Addis-!" Alex quickly covered her mouth.

"Don't tell anyone," Alex stated firmly his hand still covering her mouth. Izzie nodded and Alex uncovered her mouth.

"Wow. So it's serious right? I mean you're not just sleeping with her? Of course it's serious if it wasn't you would ask me to cook," Izzie rambled. "I want details!"

Bailey noticed that the two of them were lagging behind, "Stevens! Karev! This isn't social hour. In this hospital we actually have to work."

- - -

Addison was in her office catching up on some of the paperwork she should have done already.

"Hey," Addison jerked back in her seat. "Whoops sorry." It was Callie.

"Hey," Addison replied. "What's up?"

"You know what we haven't done in a while? Hang out. You're always off doing something that you don't tell me about," Callie nagged. "What are you doing tonight?"

Addison sighed, she couldn't keep Alex a secret from Callie any longer. She could tell Callie was getting irritated with her excuses. "Don't be mad but I have plans tonight."

"Of course you do,'" Callie rolled her eyes and was about to leave when Addison stopped her.

"I have a date," Callie turned back around with interest and Addison continued. "We've been together for over three months now."

"Wow. Three months. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's Alex."

"Alex?! Alex Karev, Alex?" Callie asked. Addison nodded and a wide smile spread across her lips. "I knew it would happen sometime." Callie smirked. "I just didn't think it happened so soon. You have to tell me all about it later."

- - -

Alex was looking for Addison. After spending all day doing scut he firmly believed that Bailey had a reason for torturing him like this, a good reason. He saw her waiting for the elevator. The doors opened and Addison stepped inside. Alex sprinted down the hall and managed to get all his extremities inside before the doors closed.

"Do you think they know?" Alex asked panting.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think Bailey knows about us," Alex said in an unnecessary low voice considering that it was just the two of them in the elevator.

"Why? What'd she say?"

"Nothing but she's been giving me these looks and having me do scut all day and I have no idea what I did wrong."

"It's probably nothing. Maybe you just made one of the nurses mad or something and they asked Bailey to make you do scut all day."

"And the Chief wants to talk to you. He said to come by his office sometime today he said it was important."

"That doesn't-" The elevator came to a stop and the steel doors slid open revealing Dr. Bailey. She entered the elevator, pushing in a patient in a wheelchair. "Hi Miranda."

"Addison. Dr. Karev," She replied. "I'm not surprised seeing you two together."

"What do you mean?" Addison asked cautiously.

"I think Karev over here is really interested in obstetrics," Addison gave a little sigh of relief.

"Yeah he's got a lot of talent in the field."

"Thank you Dr. Montgomery." Alex smirked.

"It's a shame that he likes to piss off the nurses. Otherwise he wouldn't be doing scut all day," Miranda commented. Addison gave Alex an 'I told you so' look.

"Yeah it's too bad." The elevator stopped on Addison's floor. She stepped out. Alex wanted to follow but decided it was too risky with Bailey standing next to him.

- - -

A/N: Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up.


	7. 7

**Chapter 7**-

Izzie had spent the day helping Dr. Montgomery and actually got to scrub in on a few surgeries, all of which went much better than that disastrous quints episode so long ago. In fact, now that Alex had told her about him and Addison, Izzie was finding it much easier to be nice to Dr. Montgomery. Surprisingly enough, Izzie didn't feel the least bit jealous. Somewhere along the line, she and Alex had worked out their issues and settled into being really good friends, so now, Alex's obvious happiness made her happy. Actually, considering the whole Meredith and Derek fiasco, Izzie was kind of happy for Addison, too. She was a little surprised by the fact that Alex was in a serious relationship, though, and with someone like Addison Montgomery. Izzie still found it hard to believe that the former playboy of Seattle Grace was willing to make a commitment, no matter how smoking hot and talented the woman in question.

It was nearing the end of her shift and Izzie was thinking about what to prepare for Alex and Addison's dinner that night. _Maybe spaghetti… yeah spaghetti would be perfect! Oh and meatballs! And they can reenact Lady and the Tramp, that'd be so romantic. God I love that movie._ She thought with a toothy grin.

"Hey Izz," Alex said, interrupting her thoughts. "I forgot to tell you that we might have to do some grocery shopping. I don't really have anything at my place. We'll have time to get dinner prepared right?"

"Yeah. We'll have time. I'm off in a half hour so we can go by the market and grab some things."

"Okay so that gives us a bit over an hour to get everything ready," Alex calculated. "Thanks again Izzie, for doing this. I really appreciate it."

Izzie smiled, "Glad to help."

- - - - -

A resounding clatter came from inside the kitchen of Alex's apartment. "I told you don't touch! Get out of my kitchen!"

"I was just looking! And it's my kitchen!"

"Tonight it's not. Go set the table or something. I'll tell you when it's ready," Alex didn't budge. "Seriously Alex. Don't make me hurt you because I can and I will," Izzie threatened, no one was going to ruin the fabulous dinner she had spent the last hour slaving over, especially not the man who'd asked her to cook it in the first place.

Alex raised his hands defensively, "Alright, alright."

"I'm done--" Izzie said when she finally came out of the kitchen. She gasped as she entered the candle lit room.

"So what do you think?" Alex asked.

"Wow. She's going to love it," Izzie couldn't believe her eyes. Alex had even bought roses. She hadn't thought he was capable of being romantic. "I'd better go before she gets here." As Izzie headed towards the door, a light knock sounded. "Uh oh!" Izzie gasped turning to meet Alex's equally horrified look. They stared unmovingly at each other for a few seconds before Alex sprang into action.

"Sorry Izz. I can't let her see you here," Alex whispered as he pushed Izzie back into the kitchen. "I'll answer the door and pretend I need to 'show' her something in the bedroom while you sneak out, ok?"

Izzie gave Alex a conspiratorial smile and nodded. "Good luck" she whispered as he left the kitchen to go answer the door.

- - - - -

The next morning at the hospital, Izzie couldn't stop smiling. Addison kept shooting her bemused looks, but Izzie had promised Alex that she wouldn't tell so every time Addison asked her what was so funny, Izzie just beamed and asked questions about another patient.

Finally, as they were finishing up some paperwork before lunch, Addison sighed and said "Alex asked you to come and cook dinner last night because he didn't know how, didn't he."

Izzie let out a guilty squeak. "I'm really sorry, it's just that he was trying so hard and he asked really sweetly, and the candles and roses were all his idea" she babbled. "Don't be mad…"

"I'm not mad. I kind of knew Alex didn't make it," Addison chuckled. "But don't tell him that. You know how fragile the male ego is."

"It'll be our secret," Izzie agreed with a grin.

- - - - -

When Alex and Addison entered the surgical wing of the hospital a few days later they knew something was going on. Whenever Alex or Addison got within hearing distance, all conversations seemed to mysteriously drop to a whisper. Fortunately, they didn't need to hear the words to know what everyone was talking about. Lately they'd been less and less careful in concealing their relationship and it was only a matter of time until word got out.

Glancing around the suspiciously quiet lobby area, Addison decided to come clean. "Alex. I told Callie about us," she confessed.

"And I told Izzie," Alex admitted sheepishly. "I'm going to see if she has anything to do with this."

"Yeah I'm going to talk Callie."

- - - - -

It was the middle of the day before Addison finally caught Callie just as the other woman was leaving a patient's room. "Hey. I am being paranoid or is half the surgical wing talking about me and Alex?"

"Uh… no, you're right. They're talking about you. Apparently it got out somehow." Callie gave Addison a consoling smile.

"So you didn't tell anyone?"

Callie shook her head, "Does anyone else know?"

"Stevens knows."

"She did it. She spilled the beans," Callie said with confidence.

"I don't think so."

"You know how talkative those interns are. They can't keep their mouths shut for a minute. They always have something to say," Callie ranted. "I can kick her ass for you."

Addison smiled, "I know you how much you don't like her and I know how much you would like to kick her ass but she didn't do it."

"Damn," Callie sighed. "Any idea who did?"

Addison thought for a moment, "Derek, I bet it was him." She started to walk off in search of her ex but paused. "Izzie's actually a pretty decent person," she told Callie. "Maybe you should try to work things out with her, if not for your sake then for George's." Laughing quietly at the disgusted look on Callie's face, Addison turned around and went hunting for Derek.

- - - - -

Derek was sitting in front of one of the computers at the nurse's station doing some research on a rare upcoming surgery. He wanted to know everything there was to know about it but it was hard to concentrate. He glanced up and stared at his surroundings. Doctors and patients were bustling by; Alex was giving a nurse a hard time, then Mark was giving Alex a hard time. Derek went back to the computer monitor. Minutes later he glanced up again, only to see Addison coming directly at him. His brown eyes met her green eyes for a second, until he quickly busied himself with random papers around him.

"Busy Derek?" Addison asked menacingly. She hadn't really spoken to him since their fight a while back and though she didn't want to speak to him now either it had to be done.

"Yeah. I'm really swamped with work," Derek said, gesturing at the papers strewn around him. "I don't even know what more than half these papers are." That was true at least—the files and pages weren't his.

Addison decided to get right to the point. "Why'd you have to go and tell everyone about me and Alex?" she asked.

Derek hunched his shoulders in shame and tried hard not to meet Addison's gaze. "It accidentally slipped out. I'm so sorry. I never meant to say anything," he pleaded.

"An accident?" Addison didn't believe him. "Derek, please don't lie to me."

"I swear, it really was an accident," Derek affirmed. "Addie I didn't—"

"I wasn't ready for everyone to know," Addison sighed. "I have a legitimate relationship with Alex. I'm not just sleeping with him. It's not like with Mark."

"Yeah I know."

"Then why does everyone think I'm just sleeping with him?" Addison hissed. Not only did everybody think that they were just having sex, but they looked at her differently now, they treated her differently. When she'd first come to Seattle, everyone had hated her because she was McSatan, come to split up Meredith and Derek, the golden couple. Now everyone hated her because they all believed she was sleeping with an intern to get back at her ex-husband.

"I don't know but I never wanted to hurt you," Derek said sincerely. "I was just being over protective. I want what's best for you."

Addison could tell that Derek really meant it and for a moment she felt like he really cared about her again. Then he reached for her hand and seeing their palms together, skin to skin, reminded her of what they had lost, what they'd both thrown away. Wrenching her hand out of his hold, Addison backed away.

"I— I've got to go," she muttered, quickly leaving the room. Sometimes life at Seattle Grace was just too emotional.

Addison walked blindly through the halls, finally ending up in an empty on call room. Just as she sat down to have some much needed alone time with her thoughts, her cursed pager went off. It was the Chief. Squaring her shoulders and mentally bracing herself for the conversation ahead, Addison sighed heavily, threw open the door and strode out into the hallway.

- - - - -

Standing outside the Chief's office for a moment, Addison gathered her composure. When she finally opened the door and stepped inside, there was no real noticeable expression on the Chief's face, and especially no anger which was always a good sign.

"Addison. Sit down," the Chief said professionally. Addison took a seat across from him. "It was just over year ago that you came to Seattle for a consult and signed a one year contract."

"Seems like I was here so much longer," Addison murmured.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing."

"Now that the year is almost up, we should re-new your contract for a longer period of time."

Addison bit her lower lip. "Richard, I need to think about it," she said quietly.

"Are you getting better offers at a different hospital?"

"No it's not that," Addison started. "I mean I have gotten other job offers, one back in New York and one in California. It's just complicated right now."

"Is it Derek?" Richard knew that things usually got messy whenever Derek was involved.

"Sort of. I just--" Addison stopped. Even though Chief Webber had been her friend and mentor long before he became her boss, right now, Addison just didn't feel ready to burden him with her problems. "I need to think about it," she said, getting up and walking out the door.

- - - - -

"Derek. We need to talk."

"Sure Richard. What about?" Derek asked hoping it was about the Chief's promise to make him chief of surgery.

"Addison," Richard replied. Standing nearby, Alex immediately stopped working in favor of listening in on their conversation. He had been meaning to talk to Addison about what happened with Derek and why she looked so bothered, but new patients kept coming in and he hadn't gotten around to it.

"Oh," Derek couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice.

"You and Addison need to settle your differences."

"We're fine. We're not fighting. Everything's okay between us."

"Derek. I think she might be leaving Seattle."

- - - - -

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long.


	8. 8

A/N: Sorry about not update for the whole summer. I hope I didn't loose too many readers.

**Chapter 8**-

It took a few moments for Derek to process the information Richard gave him about Addison. "Are you sure?" he asked. The look on Richard's face revealed that it wasn't a joke, he was dead serious. "But I didn't do anything."

Richard's expression remained unchanged, "Do you want her to stay?"

Derek hesitated; sure he did want her to leave Seattle before when they were married, but now all he wanted was to be friends. "Yes."

Richard's voice softened. "Then do something about it," he said simply.

"She said she was leaving?" A voice asked from behind them. They turned around to face an anxious intern.

"It doesn't concern you." Richard sighed, annoyed at the level of curiosity everybody had in this hospital. Apparently Richard was the only one who hadn't heard the most recent gossip going around the hospital.

"Yes it does." The Chief gave Alex a curious look but it only took him a few seconds to fill in the blanks, everything started to make sense now, there had been talk about a budding relationship with an intern and an attending but he didn't expect it to have been Alex and Addison.

Richard shook his head in frustration, "This hospital needs Addison; she's one of the best. Don't do anything… stupid." He stated giving both of them a stern look. They nodded meekly. "Good." Once he was sure they were at an understanding he left the two men alone in an uncomfortable silence.

"Uh you should probably talk to Addison. She was acting a little weird earlier," Derek said.

"Yeah I guess I should."

x x x

Alex had no idea what he should say. He didn't know how he exactly felt about this; he didn't know if he should be angry, surprised, hurt, or all of the above. One thing he did know was that he didn't want Addison to leave. Their relationship was the only one he had in a while that he hasn't screwed up. He couldn't help but wonder if he had somehow screwed this one up as well.

He was pulled from his thoughts when a nurse said she had seen Dr. Montgomery going into one of the on call rooms a little bit earlier. Alex knocked on the door Addison went into but received no answer. He went in and saw her lying on a bed. Without a word he sat down on the bed across from hers.

Alex couldn't think of a subtle way of asking her so he was just going to come out with it. "Are you leaving Seattle?"

Addison knew that one was coming, "I don't know."

"But you're thinking about it?"

Addison hesitated, "I don't know what I'm thinking right now." She said in all honesty.

"Addison…"

"Please Alex right now I just want to be alone."

"We need to talk about this," Alex urged.

"No we don't," Addison snapped.

"I can't just ignore this. Aren't couples supposed to work things out?" Addison kept silent. "Was it something I did?" Alex asked solemnly.

Addison's tone became softer, "No you didn't do anything."

Alex sighed; at least the problem wasn't his fault. He then realized what the probably might be, and he knew that it was something she had to do herself. "You can't keep running away from your problems, eventually they'll catch up. You should know that by now."

Somewhere inside her she knew he was right but running away was so easy, she wanted to say he was right but the only three words that came out of her mouth was, "Please just leave."

"Fine," If she didn't want to talk about it, Alex couldn't force it. He gave up and headed for the door. "Leave if you want, apparently you have nothing here in Seattle stopping you." The door slammed on his way out.

It wasn't the way Alex had wanted to end it, but if she was thinking about leaving then their relationship didn't mean much to her, so there was no point to even keep dating. If this relationship meant anything to Addison she would stay and what he said wouldn't matter. He half expected her to burst out the door and come after him. However, he wasn't too surprised when she didn't.

Addison laid there, tears rolling down her cheeks, trying to get what Alex said out of her mind. If he didn't want her to stay then there was really no point in her being in Seattle and making herself miserable. The rain was really no help either. Alex was the only thing stopping her and it looks like she really messed it up.

x x x

The next day neither Addison nor Alex had come to work and by lunchtime it got most of the surgical wing of SGH talking. Rumors had already spread about an argument, a possible break up and Addison's possible departure.

"No way!" Meredith exclaimed. "I thought it was really going to work out between them."

Cristina snorted, "Seriously? They were just a disaster from the start. No way it would have worked out." She said then took a bite out of her hotdog.

"Guys it's just a stupid rumor," Izzie pointed out. "Neither of them came to work today, so you know, anything could have happened."

Meredith nodded. "Yeah. Maybe Addison left and Alex went after her," she suggested.

"They're probably just having make up sex," Cristina put simply.

"Cristina!" Izzie scowled putting down her burger.

"What it's more probable than Addison leaving and Karev coming after her," she said, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe they even lasted as long as they did."

Just then Alex walked by. "Guys, it's Alex, shut up," Meredith whispered as he passed them. If he had heard them, there was no indication on his face that he had. He went to a vacant table and sat down.

"He looks kind of sad," Izzie noticed.

"Maybe they did break up," Meredith said.

"Do you think we should go talk to him?" Izzie asked with a concerned tone.

"No. If he wanted to talk to someone then he would have sat here," Cristina explained. "And plus…"

"Yeah I think we should go to talk to him," Meredith interjected and got up from her seat along with Izzie.

"Come on, we should just leave him alone," when they didn't listen Cristina sighed, picked up her tray and followed them.

Wordlessly the trio sat down. Alex sighed; he knew what this was going to be about.


	9. 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. Sorry about the late update, I was working on a few other things.

**Chapter 9-**

The four doctors sat there without a sound.

Meredith started fidgeting with the neckline of her shirt, "So…" She began, not being able to stand the awkward silence. She and Alex had never been really close, so she wasn't too sure what she should say.

"Sooooo Alex," Izzie repeated, stretching out her words. "Is everything alright?"

"Yep," Alex replied. Then there was another silence.

Izzie picked at her food, but couldn't hold what she wanted to ask any longer, "So what happened?"

"You really want to know?" Meredith and Izzie nodded in unison. "It stays between us," Alex shifted his eyes and paused. "I woke up late this morning and decided to sleep in, and that's what happened," he confided.

Cristina laughed, chocking on her hotdog. "Nice. You should have seen the disappointment on your faces!" Alex smirked; the expressions on Meredith's and Izzie's face were priceless. Cristina got up to leave but the look Izzie shot her sat her back down, "Alright Karev, are you going to tell us what happened or not?"

"Cristina!" Izzie and Meredith exclaimed simultaneously.

"Nope," Alex said flatly.

"Even if we beg and pled and nag?" Cristina continued even after Izzie kicked her under the table.

"Yep."

"See guys? He doesn't want to talk about it. He probably wants to be alone so let's just go," Cristina got up and started to leave.

"Cristina, hold on." Izzie grabbed her arm. "We're not here to get gossip or anything. We're your friends, we care. If you want to talk to us you can," Izzie said genuinely. "_Any_ of us," she emphasized, glancing at Cristina.

Alex nodded and the three women left to go back to their original table. "Why'd you have to be so insensitive back there?" Izzie dropped her tray down.

Cristina sat down and shrugged, "What?"

"I know you don't like Alex, but God Cristina, you could have at least been a little less rude."

"Whatever. I was just doing him a favor. Not everyone wants to talk about their feelings. They have different ways of dealing," Cristina responded. "I have some research to do," she picked up her tray with her half eaten food and left.

Izzie stared in awe after her, "Wow. Maybe in a way she does care."

Meredith nodded, "Sure, in some twisted alternate universe."

"Maybe just a little bit," Izzie shrugged.

"I guess it's… _possible_."

Behind them Alex slumped down in his seat and let out an inaudible sigh.

- - -

Richard hurried into the elevator just barely making it before it closed. "Richard," Derek greeted him with a goofy smile. "You are late."

The chief pushed the button for his floor. "I had some car trouble," he replied wearily. "Oh, Derek did you get a chance to talk with Addison?"

Derek shook his head, "I thought it would have been better if Dr. Karev talked with her." He said somewhat unhappily.

The elevator stopped. "I see," Richard respond thoughtfully and stepped out of the elevator and headed towards his office.

Richard pulled out his keys and unlocked the door to his office. He glanced at the pile of papers, which seemed to grow bigger each day. He decided that he would get started going through it, after he checked the board and had some coffee. He was about to leave when a manila envelope caught in the corner of his eye. He didn't remember it being there before. It sat right on top of the mound of papers. Richard opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper. He pulled out a piece of paper and skimmed through it.

It was Addison's letter of resignation.

- - -

"Count backwards from 10, Ms. Vance," Derek told his patient, while the anesthesiologist put a mask over her face.

"Ten, nine, eight, sev…" as soon as she was knocked out, the mask came off.

Suddenly the doors slid open and the chief entered, sterilized. Derek glanced up, "Richard... what are you doing here?"

"I'll be assisting you," Richard moved to the other side of the operating table.

Derek started to protest, "Chief, I'm pretty sure I can handle this one myself, I've done it at least--"

Richard leaned in slightly and in a low whisper he said, "And there's something we need to talk about."

- - -

It was a busy day for the interns; most of them were assigned to the pit. There weren't any interesting surgeries and on a normal day they wouldn't be worth kissing up to, to get in on. However most of them attempted to get into one, so they didn't have to attend to the tedious things in the ER.

By the late evening the commotion died down and the interns could take a break. Alone, Cristina sat against the wall, on one of the gurneys, munching on a bag of chips. Walking down the long brick hallway, Alex noticed Cristina and sat down next to her. Cristina stuck out the bag of chips, offering some to Alex. He grabbed some and they ate in silence for a few minutes.

"I think we broke up," Alex said, about his relationship with Addison.

"You really liked her didn't you?" Alex nodded. "You don't want to talk about it or whatever, do you?" Cristina asked, somewhat doubtful that he would want to.

"No."

Cristina was somewhat relieved. "Okay." They then sat there, eating chips.

- - -

With a little bottle of vodka, from the mini-bar, in one hand, Addison sat down on her bed, finishing up the last drop of her drink. All her belongings were packed into two large suitcases, which were placed next to the door.

There was a soft knock at the door, then a louder one. She put on her slippers, walked over to the door and opened it. Somehow she wasn't surprised at who was at the door. "Why is it never room service?" she wondered aloud. "Come in, I guess."

Derek offered a small smile and sat down on the edge of the bed. Addison stayed standing, waiting for an explanation for his visit. "So I heard you were leaving."

She nodded, "Tomorrow I'm going to California to see Naomi. You remember her don't you?"

"Addison," Derek started. "You don't have to leave. Whatever it is you're going through, you can get through it."

Addison sat down next to him, "No Derek I don't think I can. It's the ferries, the rain, everything."

"You have people who care for you here. Everything else doesn't matter." Derek comforted in a reassuring voice. He got up and started to the door "Think about it," He said as he headed out of Addison's hotel room.

Lazily falling back on her bed, Addison sighed. It was a hard choice to make, however it wasn't something she should think about more thoroughly. Yawning, Addison decided she would sleep on it and slowly drifted off.

When Addison woke up she didn't feel any differently about her situation. Sluggishly, Addison got out of bed and started to get ready for her long drive to Santa Monica.

- - -

A/N: Don't worry all will resolve itself by next chapter, hopefully. Reviews would be absolutely lovely.


	10. 10

Chapter 10:

Addison slowly turned the bronze doorknob and stepped inside to the large foyer. Behind her was a chatty real estate agent, blabbing on about the house, its history and how good the neighborhood was. The three bedroom and two and a half bathroom house, was near empty.

There were some casual antiques scattered around the house, such as an old grandfather clock that seemed like it hadn't worked in ages. Yet there was a homey feel to the place, like her brownstone back in New York, and a lot like the home she grew up in during her childhood. She didn't need to see or hear any more; frankly, she was tired of the agent. It was hard to explain but there was no doubt in her mind that this was the perfect house.

Addison turned to the real estate agent, "I love it. How long will it take to get the papers ready?"

The agent responded with a grin then said, "In a flash."

- - -

It had been a few days since Addison's leave and most of the surgical wing felt her absence. However, it was Alex that felt it the most; he didn't show it of course. In fact he went on with life as usual, he scrubbed in on surgeries, delivered babies, and did what Addison would have had him do. From the view of an outsider, it seemed like nothing had happened, nothing had changed. But everything had, all Alex could think about was how their last conversation ended, how she didn't even say good bye. He couldn't help but think that it was he that made Addison leave.

"Dr. Bailey," Alex said, getting her attention. "I need to talk to you."

Miranda reluctantly looked up from her work, giving him a 'this better be good I'm busy' look.

This wasn't going to be easy, Alex thought. "I know I'm an intern and I have no place in asking you this but…" he paused. "I need two or three days off," he asserted.

Miranda didn't even stop for a second to think about her answer. "No. Sorry Karev but like your said you're an intern, bottom of the food chain, you don't get to ask for days off."

"But…"

Bailey knew what this was about and her decision did not change. "No. I don't care what you've got going on in your personal life is like right now. It's not affecting your work so I expect you to do work."

Alex then told her why he wanted the days off. Miranda sighed, "Fine. _Two_ days." She emphasized. "But only if you can get someone to pick up the extra slack." Alex nodded. "One more thing, Karev." He turned his head. "This is not a favor from me to you. It's a favor from me to the hospital."

It surprised Alex how relatively simple that had been. He had thought that it would take a lot more convincing. Now all he needed was somebody to do some of his work during his two day absence. Izzie would probably help out.

Not much later, Alex managed to hunt Izzie down. She agreed to it with almost no hesitation. There were, of course, some questions that came along her willingness to do Alex a favor but he promised that her questions would be answered later because honestly he wasn't all that sure what he was doing himself.

- - -

"Alright Ms. Montgomery, paper work is done, your house, paid for in full…" the real estate agent flipped through some papers, making sure the Ts were crossed and the Is were dotted, "Everything is in order." She pulled out a set of keys. "Here are the keys to your new house. Congratulations," she smiled enthusiastically.

"Thank you," she took the keys and attached them to the ring that held her car keys.

As Addison was about to leave, her agent abruptly posed a question that had been nagging at her. "Ms. Montgomery, if you don't mind me asking, why were you so…" she searched for the word. "Well, e_ager_, to buy this house." This house, referring to literally, the first house she took her to, making her job a lot easier.

Somehow Addison knew she was going to ask that. The answer was simple. "I needed a change."

Her agent gave her an understanding smile. "Oh! I almost forgot. Here's a spare set of keys." Addison thanked her and left. She was going home but before she could she needed to make a stop, one that was quite far away.

She strode in the hospital with coolness, much like she did a year ago, through the doors of Seattle Grace, when confronting her ex-husband. It was a hard and painful time for her. Hopefully this time around it wouldn't be remotely like the last disastrous time. It was late and many of the doctors and nurses were heading back home.

Addison stepped into the empty elevator, and during the ride she told herself that things were going to work out. That she didn't do what she thought was right for nothing. The heavy metallic doors opened, slowly and climactically, as they revealed who was standing behind it. She wasn't too shocked to see him, because almost everything that happened here happened in or near an elevator. It was just how Seattle Grace worked.

There were whispers that came from the small group of doctors, who were also waiting to catch a ride in the elevator. Among the group was Izzie, Meredith and Cristina but Addison didn't even seen the gathering group of people, the only person she saw was Alex.

She stepped out of the elevator and the crowd parted to make room for her and to watch the oncoming scene play out. A sudden hush fell over the crowd.

Alex didn't know what to say, so he asked what everyone was thinking, "What are you doing here?" To the onlookers, he seemed cold, but he was only in shock.

Suddenly aware of their surroundings, the two of them got the idea of going somewhere more private. The onlookers' eyes followed them as they walked away from the elevator, heading to a quiet hallway.

Addison was sure he could hear her heart pounding as they walked in silence, side by side. When they were out of hearing range, Addison spoke, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry I left like that, without saying good bye."

This is it, Alex thought, this was going to be good bye. And he didn't want it, he wanted her to stay. Alex told himself that she came back to make things right, to get some closure and that there wasn't a chance to convince her to come back. "I'm sorry too, for what I said."

From what Addison could tell he was mad and didn't want her back, a tear started to roll down her cheek. Impulsively Alex put his hand on her cheek and wiped it away with his thumb. "I was going to come after you." He said. She took his hand off her cheek and slipped something into it, she had been holding it since she got into Seattle Grace.

He opened up his hand. He was holding a key. "It's a spare," Addison explained, seeing the confused look on his face. "I bought a house… for us."

"It's kind of far from here but it's a really nice house," she digressed, filling in the silence.

And for a long moment Alex was silent. It was the longest four seconds of Addison's life. Her uneasiness was all erased when she felt Alex's lips on hers. It was a passionate kiss; neither of them wanted it to end. When they parted Alex whispered something in her ear. Addison's heart soared. Then she whispered back, "I love you too."

The End.

A/N: Wow. I can't believe it's finally finished. I'm really happy. This will probably be the last multi chaptered story I write. I might do an epilogue then again I might now. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed it.


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